Video shows flaming object streaking across sky in Mexico, could be remnants of rocket
The timing and location of a flaming object spotted soaring across the sky in Chihuahua, Mexico Thursday night has led many observers to believe it might be a Japanese rocket that launched nearly 15 years ago.
Video shared online showed a fiery object fly across the sky as amused voices can be heard in Spanish.
The sighting has created several speculations over what the object could possibly be from meteorite fragments to spacecraft debris.
Authorities have yet to offer a definitive answer on the fireball, but an Aerospace post states that a rocket that launched in 2010 was expected to resurface this week.
Object could be Japanese H-IIA rocket launched in 2010
The object could be Japanese satellite rocket H-IIA that was predicted to renter the earth's atmosphere on Friday, according to Aerospace.
On Sept. 11, 2010, a JAXA navigation satellite named Michibik launched from the Tanegashima Space Center with a 10-year design life, NASA reported.
Michibik was the first spacecraft of a three-stage project known as the Quazi-Zenith Satellite System, which sought to overcome ground interference through navigation satellites positioned above Asia, according to NASA. The satellite was designed to circle the Earth at a 45 degree inclination to the equator over 20,000 miles above the planet.
Monitoring companies expected that the spacecraft to return to the atmosphere over northern Mexico this week, Storyful reported.
AccuWeather astronomy expert Brian Lada said the rise of videos capturing space debris burning up in the night sky could be due to an unprecedented pace of rocket launches. He explained that defunct satellites or pieces of a rocket often fall back down to earth.
"The other reason is more people around the world have a phone in their pocket, so when an event like this happens, there is a higher chance someone is recording a video of what they are seeing compared to 10 or 20 years ago," Longley told USA TODAY.